The Edge of Neutrality
by watchingpaintdry
Summary: Autobots and Decepticons. Two sides of an age old war. But there are some who refuse to swear alegiance. When both factions set their optics on the same prize, and all hope lies with a single, neutral mech, it will all come down to which side to take.
1. Neutral Footing

X-X-X-X-X

X-X-X-X-X

_**This is a shameless combination of universes…YAY for being the WRITER and being able to do WHATEVER I WANT!!**_

_**HA!!**_

X-X-X-X-X

"…and the notion that other humans would think you…how do you say it?...Insane, if you told them that you talked to your 'jet', which, I might add, is slightly offensive, is preposterous."

Benjamin Langling glared at the console, sticking his tongue out at the dashboard of the F-35 in annoyance.

"I saw that." Snapped the disembodied voice, equally as annoyed. Ben just rolled his eyes, sighing in exasperation as he watched the controls move of their own accord, the plane riding the updrafts smoothly.

"You still haven't answered my question." Snapped the voice persistently. Ben actually growled at this.

"How do I put this?" he asked himself, tapping his chin with a finger-tip, his helmet reflecting the sun's light, causing his name, which was stamped across the edge, to almost glow.

"Human's don't understand a lot of things, and the things they don't understand, they fear. So, if, say, a person just _randomly starts hearing disembodied voices _and doesn't understand, who, what, when, where, why, or how…"

"That doesn't make sense. How and Why are practically the same thing." The voice interrupted, sounding slightly snippish. Ben ignored it.

"…then they become afraid, and things humans are afraid of…"

"They reject." The voice finished, almost sadly.

"Yeah." Ben muttered, wondering if he had slightly offended the plane.

Several moments of silence followed, before the voice came back.

"We're approaching the base." It said, sounding as sad as it always did when they had to part from the skies.

Ben sighed again, he seemed to be doing a lot of that these days, and took the controls into his hands. He never did anything, as it was all for show, to make sure anyone who just might happen to be watching didn't see him sulking in the driver's seat, arms folded crossly while the plane drove itself.

Yes, that would raise several eyebrows. Still, he could always chalk it up to a hallucination and be out of their hair before they realized he was gone, but that would be easier said than done, so he just stuck with playing the part of the perfect fighter pilot, while in reality, he just so happened to be partnered with the perfect fighter plane.

As the jet came down smoothly onto the runway, barely rocking Ben as its wheels touched down, he noticed several emergency vehicles off to the side, tucked in between hangers; they're lights off, no markings on them at all. The jet, however, also seemed to notice them, and took alarm at the sight of them.

The voice gaze a strange, guttural shriek and the controls jerked from Ben's hands as the jet suddenly gunned it, streaking back up into the sky without so much as a backwards glance or an explanation.

On the ground, the emergency vehicles were no longer emergency vehicles.

X-X-X-X-X

"..THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" yelled Ben, struggling to keep down his breakfast as the F-35 sped through the air, it's speed steadily increasing until he felt as though he were going to permanently meld into the seat.

"Running." Replied the breathless voice.

"I can see that, but from WHAT?" he yelled, staring out the window as scenery whizzed by at a sickening speed.

"Them." Was the voice's only reply.

X-X-X-X-X

"…easily spooked, Optimus. We'll have to try again at the next spot, warp there and wait. He'll have to stop and refuel eventually. We can run on Earth's fuels, rather efficiently, actually, but it doesn't last as long as Energon. Which means more stops more frequently." Said Ratchet, squinting against the sun's glare as the speck that had once been the incoming F-35 disappeared from view in a matter of milliseconds.

The leader of the Autobots sighed, before turning to the rest of the group. He had brought Hotshot, Prowl, Ratchet, and Starscream along with him, but one glance at the F-35's retreating tail fins and the seeker was left gaping after it, clearly shocked by its speed.

"Uh, Optimus. Was I the only one who noticed there was a HUMAN in that plane?" asked Prowl, frowning. Hotshot shook his head.

"Nah, I saw it too. Maybe just to keep undercover?" he suggested, frowning.

"Maybe." Optimus mused.

X-X-X-X-X

"Thundercracker, Skywarp, I want to know where that jet is, where it's going, and I want to know now. Snap to it!" Megatron barked, apparently annoyed that his plan to recruit the neutral Cybertronian had been unsuccessful.

It had instantly recognized other's of it's kind, and had high-tailed it out of there faster than he would have liked, though he himself had whistled quietly in appreciation over the plane's speed.

Yes, it would be a useful addition to his team. Especially now that that traitor Starscream had joined forces with the Autobots.

'Yes, indeed.' Megatron mused to himself.

'A worthy air commander.'

X-X-X-X-X

Ben had given up a long time ago, as no amount of needling was getting him anywhere with the jet, who had been uncharacteristically silent the entire "run-flight" from the military field. He had deduced, a long time ago, from the almost constant chatter, that his jet was "female" though it had never said anything to actually verify that hypotheses.

They were currently somewhere over the Atlantic, and he was starting to grow alarmed at the amount of time they had been in the air without re-fueling.

"Aren't you low?" he asked the silent cockpit. Several more seconds ticked by.

"No, my altitude is perfect." The voice said, and it sounded immeasurably tired. Ben shook his head.

"No, I mean, don't you need to refuel soon?"

There was a slightly longer pause.

"I don't burn as much fuel as normal earth jets. In reality, I have another 2 or 3 hours I could fly at top speed before needing to touch down, maybe 4 if I really pushed it."

"Really?" Ben asked in fascination. He had known the voice was alien, but he hadn't thought literally, but then again he was only guessing.

"You never really told me, you know, about yourself." He said.

There were several more long, drawn out moments of silence before the voice crackled back into life through the speakers.

"Firestar."

"What?" Ben asked, confused. There was a sigh.

"That's what my name translates to in your language. I am a sentient cybernetic organism from a planet called Cybertron, several million light years from your galaxy. I suppose, our history in a nutshell is that we once were a peaceful race, but generations ago we split into two factions, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, who fight for freedom, and the Decepticons, ruled by Megatron, who fight for domination over all life. We have been at war since before memory, though there are some, like myself, who chose not to take sides, and who, instead, fled Cybertron in hopes of avoiding the conflict."

Ben stared at the dashboard, mouth agape.

"I…" he swallowed.

"I knew…I knew you were…were "alive", in every sense of the word…but…but I never thought…how…who…why a jet?" he finally managed.

Firestar was silent.

"Cybertronian's are unique in that they can shift from one form into another, though most are restricted to only two different forms. A vehicle mode, which can encompass anything from a car to a jumbo-jet, and a robotic mode, where the Cybertronian's personal identity becomes distinguishable from the other's of our species. We are relatively free to choose our "vehicle" of choice, but our robot forms stay fixed our entire lives."

"Huh?" Ben asked the console, utterly befuddled. There was an annoyed pause.

"Giant. Transforming. Alien. Robots."

"Oh."

X-X-X-X-X

Ben was getting seriously annoyed.

Firestar had circled the landing strip _7 TIMES!!_

Finally, as though she had decided that it was safe to land, she came quickly down onto the runway, stopping almost tentatively at the end of the tarmac, and he could sense the tension beneath him, as though the plane was ready to spring into action and take off at a moment's notice.

He knew, however, that that was impossible.

Firestar was exhausted, hungry, and had grown increasingly sluggish and groggy as the hours whiled by.

It was night now, darkness having descended several minutes prior, and the little private aircraft field was completely deserted. So, as they wheeled into an empty, shadowed hangar, Firestar mumbled to him through the speakers, seemingly not caring that another human might walk in on the conversation.

"When you get out, make sure to stand against the wall, I don't want to squish you when I transform."

Ben nodded, obligingly scrambling out of the way of the jet. He could hear something like a metallic grinding of metal on metal, and the hissing of pistons and the rumble of an engine, but he dared not peek.

Once at a safe distance, he looked back.

He was just in time to see the last few pieces of rotating, moving armour fold away from the femme's body, slotting into pre-ordained grooves and folding in on itself to fit the sleek metal body now sitting on the floor, groggy optics blinking down at the startled human.

"Fuel." She managed to mumble, optics dim. He nodded, jogging to the edge of the hangar to role a full barrel of oil to within arms reach of her.

She obligingly took it, tore off a corner like it was rice paper, and guzzled it down.

Another four followed before she finally sighed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Sleep." She said, tapping the cockpit dome of her jet form, which made up her chest.

Ben blinked, confused, but realized what she meant when she transformed back into the F-35.

"You too." She said, opening the cockpit to allow him to scramble in.

"Wouldn't want to lose you…sometime during…the night…" she managed, her voice growing heavier with each word.

"Sleep…well…" She finally mumbled, before the screen before him went blank.

Ben sat in complete silence for a few more moments, contemplating everything that had happened today, before smiling and snuggling back into the seat, taking off his helmet to rest it on his knee.

"Good night, Firestar." He said, before he, too, dozed off.

X-X-X-X-X

WOOT!! I love being a writer, because you can pretty much do WHATEVER you want, slag the consequences!

That being said, here's some fluffy-fun-shamelessness, courtesy of ME!!

Me: (waves magic wand) POOF!!

Starscream: (human sized)

Hotshot: (human sized)

Optimus: (human sized)

Megatron: (human sized)

The Twins: (human sized)

Thundercraker: WHAT THE FRAG??

Me: (evil, insane laughter) That's right, puny ones. I have the power of the ALMIGHTY COMPUTER KEYBOARD!! With it, I WILL RULE THE WORLD!! (or, at least… Transformers) MWAHAHAHAHA!!

Megatron: (hears the word "Almighty", and goes into hysterics) Something ALL POWERFUL?? I must have it!!

Me: (wags finger) Sorry, Megsy, but…IT'S MINE!!

Megatron: (is yelling now) I will never give up!! YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE LAST OF MEEEEEEEEE!!

Me: (is also yelling) WHY ARE WE YELLING??

Starscream: (head in hands) …I'm surrounded by idiots…

Sideswipe: Read…

Sunstreaker: …and Review! (or else)…

Hotshot: (points) Is that a bazooka?

Me: (grins)

X-X-X-X-X


	2. Betrayed Instinct

X-X-X-X-X

X-X-X-X-X

"Hel-lo, gorgeous."

Her optics were online in an instant, and she was on her feet the next, whirling to face a red mech who was leering rather nastily at her through the bars of her containment cell. She shuddered, partly because of the way he was looking at her, and partly because of the serious case of claustrophobia sweeping over her. Her fear of enclose spaces had always been far worse than her sisters, worse even than any other seeker she had ever known, but she was truly trapped between a rock and a hard place, and it only caused her fear to worsen, though she forced it down, optics barely grazing over the sneering mech.

She could tell at a glance that he was small, by male standards, even though he was still over half a head taller than her. He was burly, like most males, with a red visor over his pale face, the guns on his back shining in the half-light of the brig.

Glancing from side to side, taking in the solid walls around her, she hissed from the inside of the cell, eyes glowing dangerously in warning. The male only grinned broader.

"Ah, well, what can I say? I like a femme with a little fight in 'er."

He reached for the keypad to the door and she tensed, every inch of circuitry stretched to its breaking point, ready to fight, or run.

"Rumble!" the commanding voice and dangerous undertones froze the red mech in place, visor flashing in panic as he whirled around to face an enormous silver mech, the hard planes of the newcomer's face set even firmer by his scowl, lips twisting into a snarl even as he raised the barrel of the gun on his arm into Rumble's face.

"Get out." Came the growled order, and Firestar was slightly taken aback at how quickly Rumble made his exit. For such a wide mech, he certainly wasted no time, especially when it came to his commander, if that was who this really was, though she had little time to dwell on the retreating footsteps of her "tormentor" before the massive shadow of the newcomer moved across the door to her cell.

Three smaller mechs, all of them seekers, stood behind and beside him, the most prominent a sleek, black, silver, red and blue jet with stern features and blazing orange optics. He seemed vaguely familiar to her, though she couldn't put her finger on from where.

"Your name?" asked the silver commander.

She blinked, slightly startled at A) the gentleness in the leader's tone, and B) the question. She had thought they would torture her, or worse.

She frowned, thinking over everything that had happened. She was still unsure. Where was Ben? What had happened? Who were they?

"Firestar."

X-X-X-X-X

Optimus sat dumbly on one of the recharge berth's in the med-bay, looking at Ratchet in disbelief.

"No," he said softly, unbelieving. The medic shook his head.

"It's true, Optimus. Review the tapes if you want, but the truth remains. Starscream has betrayed us."

X-X-X-X-X

"Play it again." Snarled the commander, his blue and silver faceplate unable to hide his angry, sky colored optics. Prowl glanced uneasily at Ratchet, who nodded once, before pressing the play button again.

The sleek F-35 had made a run for it, having abandoned her human pilot, locking him in the hangar's office, before blasting through the metal doors herself, taking to the skies.

Starscream could be seen in hot pursuit, being extra careful not to damage her, growing closer with each passing second as he herded her back towards the ground.

Then the Decepticons had shown up, attacking with everything they had, knocking Prime unconscious as Hotshot started shouting to Starscream from the ground. It was total chaos.

None of the newly arrived Decepticons, however, not even Thundercracker, Skywarp, or Blitzwing, took to the skies, and the next and final shot of the film was of Starscream, hovering in the air several hundred feet off the ground, the femme's lithe body cradled gently in his arms, orange eyes blazing dangerously as he warped away.

The rest of the Decepticons followed.

X-X-X-X-X

Firestar accepted the cube of energon uneasily, sniffing it before glancing quickly towards the air commander, who had introduced himself as Starscream. She had been left in his "care", and soon found herself touring the base, the slightly larger mech pointing out such things as the wash-racks and command center.

Now she was sitting across from him in the rec room, wanting desperately to guzzle down the glowing energon in her hands, but still slightly uneasy with the air commander. He, however, raised an eye ridge, before rolling his optics and reaching for her drink, handing her his own in the process.

She glanced at him again and he raised his cube, before taking a drink. Before his had even hit the table, she was on her second cube, closing her eyes in ecstasy as she took much-needed gulps of the life giving substance.

"Whoa," said Starscream in alarm, reaching across the table to pry the cube form her death grip. She hissed at him angrily. She hadn't had actual energon in a long time, and her systems, though she would never admit it openly, had been on the brink of power failure down on earth.

He glared reproachfully at her, refusing to let go.

"Slow down. You're systems will shut down if you drink it too quickly. This energon has a higher concentration than the stuff on Cybertron." He explained, and she slowly nodded, taking slower sips as he removed his hand from hers.

X-X-X-X-X

The spare berth was small, designed really only as a temporary set up, but Firestar didn't care, and was in recharge in seconds, despite her earlier protests that she had to share quarters with the air commander.

Starscream watched her sleep, remembering her boisterous enthusiasm when she saw the views out his window. All arguments about having to share a room with him had died on her lips as she pressed her face to the thick glass, staring in awe out at the vast expanse of stars, the edge of the earth slowly coming into view as the breams passed.

He chuckled.

She was, after all, a seeker.

X-X-X-X-X

**WOOT WOOT!! YAY FOR BLATANT COMBINATION OF UNIVERSE STORIES!! YAY ME!!**

**And now, to continue with the fluffy-weird-ness!!**

**Hotshot: (OMG) …is that…a bazooka? **

**Me: (evil smile)**

**Everyone: (sweatdrops)**

**Me: MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Live with it, Bitches!!**

**Megatron: I am not a…**

**Sideswipe: What's a bitch?**

**Everyone: (stares)**

**Me: Uh…**

**Sunstreaker: (whacks Sides upside the head) Slag-for-brains, a bitch is…**

**Optimus: MOVING ON!!**

**Me: Yes, on to a lighter note, I am now impossibly hyper, and I didn't even drink anything!****  
****Thundercracker: ?...**

**Me: I believe the term is "Senioritis".**

**Starscream: Who-da-what-now?**

**Me: (looking through dictionary) "Senioritis" A state in which most high school seniors find themselves bored to tears with their rapidly shortening academic careers, and so take it upon themselves to act as lazy and obnoxious as possible.**

**Ratchet: EH…?**

**Me: We are seniors, therefore, we don't wanna, we don't hafta, you can't make us!**

**Starscream: Oh…**

**Megatron: (makes a grab for the bazooka) GIMME!!**

**ME: NOOOOOOOOO!!**

**Sunstreaker: Till next…**

**Sideswipe: …Time. Read…**

**Sunstreaker: …and Review. (or else)**

**Me: (grins)**


	3. Unlikely Allies

X-X-X-X-X

X-X-X-X-X

The first time Long Haul had seen her, he had tripped over his own feet and slammed into Bonecrusher, who then fell into Hook, and so on and so forth until all of the Constructicons lay, prone, on the floor.

It had been Scavenger, however, who had, with a groan of pain, looked up to see a pair of heeled feet. As his gaze traveled farther up, a hand came into view.

"Are you all right?" the femme asked, concern in her orange optics. Scavenger could only nod dumbly as he accepted the hand and was helped to his feet. The femme smiled.

"Good," she said, before Starscream came up behind her, leading her away from the 6 Constructicons before the femme could inadvertently cause any more damage.

All the mechs in the room were left gaping, staring after the retreating seekers in shock.

"Whoa…" Hook managed, and the other five all agreed with him wholeheartedly.

X-X-X-X-X

"Thundercracker!" Firestar called, hailing the other seeker from across the rec room, making her way around the table to sit across from him, her own cube of energon already half empty.

"Hey, Firestar. How are you? Starscream been treating you okay?" asked the blue seeker, smiling down at the femme, who rolled her optics.

This was one of the few orns she had ever been allowed out of Starscream's sight, and, consequently, left with Thundercracker and Skywarp, though the latter had been MIA since that morning.

"He's fine, kinda stuck up, but fine. At least he doesn't treat me like I'm a novelty." she ended up growling the last part, glaring into her energon, only to look up in confusion when Skywarp materialized at her elbow, chuckling.

"Cut em some slack, 'Star." He said, using the informal nickname as he slid into the seat beside Thundercracker. Firestar raised an eye ridge.

"Why?"

"Because, most of the mech's onboard have never even _seen_ a femme, let alone met one." Thundercracker finished, downing the last of his own Energon. Firestar was left gaping.

"Really?" Skywarp nodded.

"Aye, femmes are rare to begin with, as you know, but they're seen even less in battle situations. It takes a very skilled female to even be considered for the academy, and then, even if she was to graduate, top of her class, there are restrictions on where she can be placed, with whom, and for how long."

Firestar frowned and Thundercracker chuckled.

"I'm guessing you didn't grow up with that?" he asked her, and she shook her head.

"No, my creator and her brother trained me themselves. I never went to the academy, though believe me, after I came of age, there were countless recruiters from both sides hounding me day and night. Seriously got on my circuits."

Several moments passed in companiable silence before Firestar voiced a delicate question she had been contemplating for some time now.

"Why…why was I "paired" with Starscream? I mean, aren't there any free quarters available on the entire ship?" she asked tentatively, hoping against hope that her question wasn't taken the wrong way.

The two mechs glanced at each other, before Thundercracker answered.

"It's not so much the lack of free space, though there is, truly, a shortage of suitable quarters,"

"It's more the delicate situation we find ourselves in with _you_." Skywarp finished.

Firestar blinked, and Thundercracker sighed.

"Think about it, most of these mechs have been fighting this war their entire lives, without a single break, and, here they suddenly have a small vulnerable," he ignored her hiss of protest. "Femme amongst them. You do realize that, without our protection, you would have fallen to a worse fate than death?"

Firestar frowned, before glancing at them both.

"So, basically, you're here to make sure none of the others try anything funny?"

"Basically, though I think we would both be lying if we said we didn't enjoy your company." Said Skywarp, smiling at the femme, who nodded happily.

"But, why you three?" she asked, curious.

"Simple, you're a seeker, we're seekers. Megatron knows that we won't hurt you. And, of the three of us, Starscream is the most powerful, and most suited to "guard" you. Though he can be ornery sometimes, okay, all the time, the fact remains that he won't let anyone hurt you."

Firestar was silent for several moments, mulling over everything they had said, before looking up and smiling at them.

"Thanks, guys."

X-X-X-X-X

"Is she acclimating?"

"Relatively well, yes. She has made friends with Thundercracker and Skywarp, and seems comfortable enough with the others."

"Good. Take her down to the shooting range within the next few days. I want you to get a feel of her skills, where she might be best placed within the ranks, who she would work best with."

"You intend to place her with a different partner, my lord?"

"Hmmm. No, from what I've seen, you both tolerate each other exceptionally well, something that is rare with you, indeed. If all goes well, the two of you should remain together. If, of course, you have no objections."

"None, my lord."

X-X-X-X-X

**K, the first (kinda) serious (but not really) authors note…YAY!!**

**Okee-dokee…I'm sorry it skipped around so much last chapter, but I kinda like how it turned out, even though it went faster than I intended. And, for those of you who are wondering, Ben may or may not be coming back into this story. While writing him, I decided that I didn't like his character too much, so I might scrap the idea, and just role with what I've got. Okay, numero dos on the roster…this is a (mostly) Decepticon based fanfic. I wanted to make them more…how do I put it?...Approachable? Yeah, that's the word. So they're not as psychotic as other universes may portray them, so, even if they seem WAY OOC, they're kinda (but not really) not. **

**YAY!!**

**On with the weird fluffy-ness!!**

**Me: (sighs) **

**Starscream: What's wrong now, fleshling?**

**Me: (annoyed) You are aware that, as the writer, I have all the power in the "world" to cause you unimaginable pain?**

**Starscream: …**

**Megatron: (hears the word "Pain" and goes into hysterics) PAIN?? WHERE??**

**Me: You…are a freak.**

**Sideswipe: ?...**

**Sunstreaker: (eyetwitch)**

**Optimus: (sweatdrop)**

**Thundercracker: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? In the story…I…I'm…**

**Starscream: A soft bastard?**

**Thundercracker: ARGH!!**

**Me: Live with it, I'm the writer…**

**Sideswipe: (sighs) Read…**

**Sunstreaker: …and Review. (or else I'll kick your aft!!)**

**Hotshot: Where'd everybody go?**

**Me: (whacks him upside head) We're right here, doofus!**


	4. Caught on Candid Camera

X-X-X-X-X

"GIVE IT TO ME!!!" yelled Starscream, desperately chasing Firestar around the rec-room, the femme trying not to trip on any flat surfaces as she laughed hysterically.

"What's going on?" asked Thundercracker, Skywarp coming up behind him, both of them observing the strange scene with raised eye ridges. Firestar, upon spotting the two mechs, sprinted across the rec-room to duck behind them, peeking out at the enraged air commander.

As Starscream came barreling towards them, both Skywarp and Thundercracker moved closer together, shielding the femme from the irate mech.

"GIVE IT TO ME!!!" Starscream repeated, and, as he glanced back at the snickering femme, Skywarp noticed that she was clutching the Cybertronian equivalent of an earth camera in her hands. As Thundercracker moved farther into Starscream's way, Skywarp turned to Firestar.

"What's that all about?" he asked, pointing to the camera. Firestar burst out into a fit of giggles, before turning the camera around to show the curious seeker the LED screen, Starscream's rants of fury being completely ignored.

On the screen, a sleeping Starscream was sprawled out on his birth, several empty high-grade energon cubes stacked on his night stand. The funniest part of the picture, however, was that the air commander was clutching a stuffed robot toy, and sucking on his left thumb.

Poor Skywarp was reduced to nothing more than a pile of quivering, hysterical scrap on the floor as he began to laugh himself hoarse, clutching his sides in hopes of holding himself together, even as Firestar pressed a small green button on the side of the camera, a wicked smile on her face.

Suddenly, all throughout the entire ship, the same picture of the sleeping air commander began to pop up on EVERY computer and surveillance screen, and poor Starscream's bellow of rage was drowned out by uproarious laughter.

X-X-X-X-X

_**I think this chapter is funny enough without me adding any commentary…so read, review, and enjoy!!!**_

_**WPD**_


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